


The Redemption of Sasuke Uchiha

by predilection



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 07:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps an avenger is not who he has to be.  </p><p>(A fix-it fic in which Sasuke's redemption started earlier in the series.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Redemption of Sasuke Uchiha

**Author's Note:**

> As I was finishing the manga, it hit me that if Kishimoto really wanted to redeem Sasuke, he should have started his redemption a lot earlier. So I wrote this fic to show what tiny changes I would have liked to have seen in Sasuke's character throughout the series to make him more redeemable. 
> 
> Spoilers for the whole series! Also, this probably won't make much sense if you haven't read up until chapter 635ish (soon after Sasuke appears on the battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi War).
> 
> Warnings for violence, murder (same ones as in canon), and mentions of the Uchiha massacre.

In the Valley of the End, Sasuke leaves Naruto alive. He leans over Naruto's prone body, and for all his earlier bravado, he can't make the killing blow.

Years later, Orochimaru asks him why he didn't just murder Naruto when he had the chance. Sasuke knows why, even if his reasons are ones he prefers not think about these days. He doesn't answer, and if Orochimaru interprets his lack of response as indifference, Sasuke has no plans to correct him.

 

*

 

Sasuke has spent the better part of the last three years preparing himself to become a kinslayer so he can take out another kinslayer. It's made him crueler -- willing to do things he would have hesitated at even considering before. 

His first encounter with his old teammates after his betrayal proves he's not the same person he once was. He doesn't think twice before attacking Naruto and Sakura, and he doesn't hold back against them. 

He tells them he doesn't want them interfering in his plans, and it's true even if it's not for the reasons they think: he doesn't like the way they make him remember things he's been trying so hard to forget. 

 

*

 

They don't leave him alone. Naruto especially seems to specialize in getting in his way.

"Come home," Naruto pleads, his bright eyes boring into Sasuke's. 

Sasuke takes out his sword and rests the sharp edge of its blade against Naruto's throat.

"Come home," Naruto says again, his voice breaking as tears well up in his eyes.

 

*

 

As much as Sasuke has changed, he still can't bring himself to kill Naruto.

 

*

 

Sasuke's battle with Itachi doesn't end the way he expected it to.

He had believed that Itachi's death would bring him a sense of fulfilment, perhaps even a sense of peace, as the man who murdered his entire clan would finally be forced to face his sins.

Yet when Itachi falls to the ground, dead at Sasuke's feet, Sasuke feels anything but fulfilment or peace.

 

*

 

Killing Itachi was always the end point. After that, Sasuke's goals were always vague. He wants to revive his clan, but he hasn't given much thought to how he plans to do so. He's spent so much of his life focusing on vengeance that the idea of returning to Konoha or settling down anywhere doesn't sit well with him.

So he goes after Orochimaru. By now he knows the way Orochimaru thinks and the way he fights, and he knows that Orochimaru will eventually come for his body. He tells himself he's taking out Orochimaru to prevent him from becoming a nuisance later. 

If killing Orochimaru also ends decades of his inhumane experiments and lets Sasuke free Orochimaru's captives, Sasuke's fine with that looking like an afterthought.

 

*

 

Sasuke never planned to be part of a team again, but after he destroys one of Orochimaru's facilities, Suigetsu starts to trail after him. With a sharp grin, he asks Sasuke, "Can I join you?" He doesn't even ask what Sasuke's plans are. 

Sasuke doesn't answer, but Suigetsu follows him anyway.

 

*

 

By the time Sasuke has destroyed all of Orochimaru's bases, he has three ninja with him at all times. He's not sure how he feels about them, but he never tells them to leave.

 

*

 

Sasuke doesn't want to believe Madara when he tells Sasuke the supposed truth about his brother and Konoha. He really doesn't, but it explains so much that has never made sense to Sasuke, like how Itachi, who loved Konoha, could be behind a massacre -- like why Itachi's last words reminded Sasuke, for the first time in years, that he had also lost a brother that fateful night.

Thoughts of vengeance, sharp and familiar, fill his mind, and Sasuke knows what he must do.

 

*

 

His former teammates try to stop him from killing Danzo, but after Danzo all but confesses and corroborates what Madara had told him, they can do little to prevent Sasuke from taking his head.

 

*

 

Sakura tries to kill him, and as he dodges her poisoned kunai, he thinks about all the ways he could end her life. It hits him, then, how easy it has become for him to kill.

It also hits him, when she stabs him in the thigh, that he has made the mistake of underestimating her.

He shifts and clamps his hand around her neck. He holds her still, but not tight enough to impede her breathing. She glares at him and holds her kunai to his wrist, threatening to cut clean through it.

He doesn't know exactly why he does it, but he tells her what he has learned about the massacre. He watches the way her eyes go wide in surprise, and when he finally lets her go, she doesn't move to attack him.

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure?" she asks.

He doesn't dignify that with a response. 

As he turns to leave, she calls out to him. When he glances at her over his shoulder, she looks conflicted, her eyebrows pulled together and her mouth a thin line, but then she seems to find her resolve and tosses something at him. He catches it out of the air easily. It's a small glass vile.

"The antidote," she explains. 

He nods in understanding and then continues on his way.

 

*

 

Akatsuki recruits Sasuke and his team for a mission. Sasuke wants nothing to do with Akatsuki, but he wants to keep tabs on Madara and uncover his plans, so he accepts. They are sent to Kumo to hunt down the Hachibi, which tells Sasuke quite a bit about Madara's ambitions. 

The battle that follows is less bloody than it looks, and though there are many Kumo ninjas injured, there are no fatalities. Sasuke has Karin discreetly heal the few who are left in critical condition. He has no quarrel with Kumo, and has no interest in creating one.

When the battle ends, Sasuke can see with his sharingan that they have only captured a tiny part of the Hachibi, but he takes it back to Akatsuki and he tells Madara that they captured the full beast.

Later, Karin asks him why they were lying, at the same time Suigetsu asks him what the point of the mission was. Sasuke doesn't answer them.

 

*

 

When Sasuke goes after the two Konoha advisors who gave Itachi his orders, Naruto stands in his path.

"Sakura told me what you told her, and then we went straight to Tsunade. She'll make sure that they're brought to justice. There's already an investigation under way," Naruto explains. He looks determined. "Sasuke, the truth about what happened will come out without the need for any more bloodshed."

Sasuke's so angry, so full of hurt and rage, that he wants to see them pay with his own two hands. He pushes past Naruto, but Naruto is once again in front of him.

"I can't let you do this," he tells Sasuke.

"You can't stop me," Sasuke replies.

The corner of Naruto's lips curl upwards, and he sounds almost playful when he says, "Wanna bet?" 

 

*

 

As Naruto's attack curves through the air towards him, Sasuke finally admits to himself what he has avoided thinking about for years.

He doesn't want to kill Naruto. 

He's already killed one brother. He won't kill another.

Sasuke drops Susanoo and allows Naruto's attack to hit him.

 

*

 

"You let me win," Naruto accuses later when they're both out of breath and lying side by side on their backs on scorched earth. He laughs, sounding giddy, and Sasuke turns his head to look at him. 

Naruto is smiling at him. "Come home," he says, and reaches a hand out towards Sasuke.

Sasuke doesn't take it. It doesn't feel right. Not yet. "Your home used my brother to murder my family."

Naruto's smile turns sad, but he doesn't stop reaching for Sasuke. "Then come home to _us_ ," he says.

Sasuke doesn't reply, and after a few minutes, he brings himself to his feet. In an instant, Karin and Jugo appear at his side to steady him. 

When Sasuke looks back, Naruto is still lying on the ground and he still has that sad smile on his face. He makes no move to follow Sasuke. He simply watches as Sasuke makes his escape, his arm still outstretched in Sasuke's direction.

 

*

 

Sasuke never imagined he would be reunited with Itachi, let alone fight by his side.

After they take down Kabuto and end his endo tensei, Itachi tells Sasuke his version of events about the night of the massacre. His tale confirms what Sasuke had already known about the Uchiha threat to the village, and his deal to spare Sasuke.

Hearing it makes something familiar and heavy churn within Sasuke's chest. There's something he still doesn't understand.

"Why aren't you angry?" he snaps, as his brother begins to vanish. "After all Konoha did to you, how can you still be so loyal to them? How can you be so sure that the village is worth protecting?"

Itachi stares at him for a moment. "I gave you this hate," he says eventually. "I'm the one who gave you this bitterness and mistrust." He huffs out a breath that sounds almost like a laugh, and Sasuke hasn't heard that sound since he was a small child. "For that, I'm sorry."

The words are so unexpected, Sasuke finds himself staring at his brother in shock.

"I don't know if what I did was right," Itachi continues. "But I'm not angry at Konoha. The people of Konoha aren't the ones who gave me those orders, and they didn't carry them out. I did what I did because I believed it was for the good of the people of Konoha. Afterwards, I never had any desire to condemn the very people my actions saved."

Itachi takes a step towards him. "Sasuke, with regards to this war..."

Sasuke knows Itachi wants him to save the country he gave his life to protect, and so he waits for Itachi to tell him to join the war effort.

Instead, Itachi brings their foreheads together, and tells him, "How you feel about Konoha is up to you. You should make your own decisions." As he disappears, he smiles at Sasuke and says, "Know that whatever you decide to do, I will always love you."

 

*

 

Sasuke stands in the forest for a long time, humbled by his brother's unconditional acceptance, and considers his options.

While he's still not sure how exactly he feels about Konoha, what he does know for sure is that if the world ends, everyone will die, Itachi's sacrifices will be in vain, and there won't be a future for either himself or his clan.

Decision made, he calls his team and tells them what they're going to do.

He doesn't tell them that his feelings are changing. He doesn't tell them that he can feel himself being swayed by Itachi's words away from anger and bitterness, towards something else -- something brighter he can't even name.

 

*

 

As he splits off from his team -- the three of them are to assist the kage, while he takes on Madara -- he tries to imagine a future for himself without the hate he's carried for so long and finds that he can't. 

He no longer knows how to be anything but an avenger, so a future untainted by vengeance seems impossible to him. 

Then he thinks of Naruto's outstretched hand and wonders if maybe he doesn't have to figure out his future on his own.

 

*

 

Sasuke arrives on the battlefield just in time to pull Naruto out of the direct path of an attack from the Jubi.

Naruto grins at him, and quips, "Fashionably late as always, eh, Sasuke?"

"Sasuke-kun?" he hears and turns to meet Sakura's gaze. She looks uncertain, like she's not sure if she should be happy to see him or not.

Sasuke takes a deep breath, and tells her what he has decided. "I'm here to help."

He's not sure how he expects her to react to that, but she startles him when she smiles, wide and bright, and says, "We've been waiting for you."

 

*

 

For the first time since before his defection, Sasuke stands between Sakura and Naruto in battle. In unison, they bite the pads of their thumbs to draw blood and slam their palms onto the ground to call their most powerful summons.

It surprises him how smoothly the three of them work together even after all their years apart. Sasuke backs up Naruto's attacks, and Naruto backs up his, at the same time the both of them defend Sakura as she heals and protects the soldiers.

This battle is one of life and death -- one that will decide the fate of the world -- and though Sasuke knows he should be scared of what will happen should they lose, he can't help but feel a strange sense of satisfaction as he fights with his old team. It feels _right_ , like being by their sides is exactly where he's supposed to be.

 

*

 

"Come home," Naruto says, after the battle is won. He reaches out a hand towards Sasuke.

Sasuke's aware of his team as they stand silently behind him. Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo are waiting on him -- willing to follow him wherever he decides to go. He's also aware of Sakura, who comes to stand next to Naruto, and raises a hand of her own out towards him. "Please, Sasuke-kun," she says.

Sasuke thinks of Konoha's people, of his clan, and of a life built on solely vengeance and hate. He thinks of Itachi's last words to him, and of how he has trouble imagining a better future for himself. He thinks of Naruto and Sakura, who still believe in him, and who stand before him, hands outstretched, willing to guide him. 

He thinks that he's finally ready to have a home again.

He takes a step forward and slowly places his hands into theirs.


End file.
